Last weekend’s closure of the Gardiner Expressway enabled City of Toronto and contract crews to complete a significant amount of maintenance and improvement work in advance of the winter season.
“We appreciate the public’s patience as our crews and contractors worked quickly, safely and effectively to maintain the Gardiner and get motorists on their way again,” said Barbara Gray, General Manager of Transportation Services. “Closing the throughway for a full weekend is the best way to keep workers and the travelling public safe while this important maintenance gets done.”
The Gardiner Expressway closed on Friday evening at 11 p.m. and was scheduled to open at 5 a.m. Monday morning. On Monday morning, the eastbound lanes opened at about 2:30 a.m. and westbound lanes opened at approximately 3:30 a.m.
Work that was completed included:
• 74,000 square metres of road-surface grinding
• 19 lane-kilometres of the expressway paved with 7,500 tonnes of asphalt
• 622 potholes filled
• 56 traffic-monitoring loops installed
• 335 metres of guiderail installed
• 16,000 metres of line painting completed
• five crash systems repaired or installed
• 284 tonnes (84 loads) of debris removed
• more than 100 curb-kilometres of roadway flushed and swept
• 10 tonnes of litter collected
• 850 catch basins cleaned and flushed
• 68 overhead signs, inspected, maintained or repaired
• more than 60 general traffic signs inspected and repaired
• 11 ground-mount guide signs inspected and repaired
• eight concrete foundations constructed for future overhead sign support
• five variable-message signs inspected and maintained
• nine “RESCU” cabinets and vehicle detection stations inspected, maintained or repaired
• 35 square metres of graffiti removed
• bridges inspected, and
• street lights re-lamped and masting (erecting light poles) performed by Toronto Hydro.
The City’s Transportation Services, Engineering and Construction Services, Parks, Forestry & Recreation, Solid Waste Management Services and Toronto Water, along with Toronto Hydro, worked together to co-ordinate their work and operations over the weekend to improve efficiency and to minimize disruption.
Approximately 110,000 vehicles travel the Gardiner Expressway daily.
This work was part of the City’s comprehensive, co-ordinated strategy to rehabilitate and upgrade Toronto’s roads, transit and underground infrastructure for current and future needs.
This news release is also available on the City’s website: https://bit.ly/2AOQRnK
Toronto is Canada’s largest city, the fourth largest in North America, and home to a diverse population of more than 2.9 million people. It is a global centre for business, finance, arts and culture and is consistently ranked one of the world’s most livable cities. For information on non-emergency City services and programs, Toronto residents, businesses and visitors can visit http://www.toronto.ca, call 311, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, or follow us on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/TorontoComms, on Instagram at http://www.instagram.com/cityofto or on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/cityofto.
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